Tag: Fitness

Getting to the ground and back up is a fairly complicated motor skill which can vary in difficulty based on one’s surroundings and physical limitations. There are many ways to accomplish this task involving movements such as squatting, lunging, kneeling, or bending over, and it requires lower body mobility, strength, and stability as well as a certain amount of comfort being on the floor. Not only is one’s ability to get to the floor and back up an important predictor of mortality, but it is also crucial for many activities of daily life as well as for recovery in the event of a fall (de Brito et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2016). Fall risk is a great concern, especially in older adults due to the injuries, disability, and reduction in quality of life that a fall can cause. Many studies have reported that reduced muscle strength in the lower extremities raises the risk of failing (Wang, D. et al., 2016).

A study by de Brito et al. (2012) scored 2,002 adults ages 51 to 80 years old on their ability to sit down on the floor and get back up. They were scored out of 10 possible points and deductions were made for the use of another body part or the floor for support while getting down or back up. The researchers followed up with the individuals over the next six years, and 159 of the participants died. Every point increase in a person’s test score correlated with a 21% reduction in his or her risk of death in the next six years. While this is a correlation study and evidence of correlation isn’t evidence of causation, the association between movement ability and mortality is hard to ignore.

Try it out now. Start by standing up. Sit down on the floor using your hands or other objects as little as possible. Every time you use something for assistance, subtract one point from five. Stand up from the floor using as little help from hands and objects as possible. Subtract one point from five each time you use hands or objects for assistance. Add your results from getting down (a number out of 5) and getting up (a number out of 5) for your score out of 10. Each point less than 10 increases the probability of death in the next six years by 21%. Are you ok with your score? Keep reading to learn how to improve!

If getting down to the floor and/or up is nearly impossible for you:

Here are three simple exercise progressions you can work through over the next 6-8 weeks.

Sit to stand

Lowering and raising in a split stance (similar to a lunge)

Step ups

Sit to stand

Select a box or chair that is a comfortable height. Sit down to it and stand back up without using your hands or assistance. Progress to tapping your butt on the box instead of entirely transferring your weight onto it, and gradually lower the box to increase the distance you raise and lower yourself. This increases comfort with getting down to and up from progressively lower seats and strengthens the leg muscles necessary to do so. If you progress to the point where you can lower and raise yourself to a point at more than 90-degrees of knee flexion, progress this exercise to include lying down. In this variation, sit/squat down to the low position, transfer all your weight to the box, and lie all the way down. To reverse the movement, sit up from lying supine and squat up from that position.

Lowering and raising in a split stance

Slightly lower and raise your body (bending the front and back knees) in a split stance position using TRX straps for support. With practice, increase the distance you lower and raises your body, and then decrease the amount of assistance used to stabilize from two TRX straps to one strap to no assistance. This exercise increases comfort and stability in the split stance position one uses to get up from the ground, and it strengthens the leg muscles which are important for the movement.

Step ups

Step up to a small platform using one leg. Similar to the other exercises, this will increase leg strength, stability in a single leg stance, and comfort in a movement pattern one can use to get up from the ground. Progress by increasing the repetitions of step ups performed on each leg and the height of the platform you are stepping up to.

The next step:

Once you can get down to the ground and back up with relative ease, I’d suggest including a Fall Matrix in your workout warm-up once a week.

Start standing. Place one hand on your same-side knee. Lay down, with your back against the floor and stand back up without removing the hand from your knee. Then lay down with your stomach on the floor without removing the hand from your knee, and stand back up. Optional: Lay down with your right side on the floor, and stand back up. Then repeat on the left side.

Repeat these 4 variations touching the other side’s hand to its same-side knee.

Repeat these 4 variations touching one hand to the opposite side knee.

Repeat these 4 variations touching the other side’s hand to its opposite side knee.

Progress these exercises by touching your hand to a body part lower than the knee, for example, place your hand below the knee, on your shin, on your ankle, on your toes.

Like many things with our bodies, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Get on the ground and back up regularly so you don’t lose your ability to!

Intrinsic motivation describes one’s internal drive to participate, exert effort, and be persistent when engaging in an activity. Intrinsically motivated individuals partake in an activity simply due to the pleasure and satisfaction derived from the activity itself (Hunter, 2008). Not surprising, it is a huge factor in long-term exercise program adherence. As a person who takes on clients working toward specific fitness goals, it is part of my job to keep them committed to their goals so they are successful. Cultivating a client’s intrinsic motivation is an important part of this.

Hunter (2008) identifies three facets of intrinsic motivation: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy means that a client has some control over his or her workout. One way I like to give clients autonomy is by letting them choose the weight they want to lift during exercises, within my parameters (i.e., they can lift the weight with good technique, they are not risking injury, the weight corresponds to my desired intensity, etc.). I also ask clients or the kids in my group classes for feedback on exercises. For example, I’ll ask the kids if any of the exercises are too easy or too hard, or which exercise is their favorite or least favorite of the exercises in a circuit. These choices involve my clients in the decision-making aspects of their workouts while keeping them on track to meet their goals.

Competence describes a client’s belief in his or her ability to perform a task. Hunter (2008) suggests providing ample opportunities for clients to practice performing quality skills. I start many of my youth strength and conditioning classes with 5-10 minutes of jumping rope, and many kids do not do this well, at first. I provide the beginners with lots of positive feedback and encouragement in their first classes. In just a few weeks of practice, at the start of every class, kids will master the basics of jumping rope. For many, improving so much in such a short time is a big confidence booster.

Relatedness is the third component of intrinsic motivation that refers to an individual’s connection or sense of belongingness to a group (Hunter, 2008). I actually had a shocking moment yesterday when, after teaching my gym’s level 1 strength and conditioning class to two boys of similar size and age, I asked them if they knew each other’s name and neither did! A lot of kids develop relationships with the coaches at the gym, which fosters some relatedness, but I could definitely do more to develop connections between the kids in my classes.

A study by Evans, Cooke, Murray, and Wilson (2014) explored how the temporal proximity of anticipated positive outcomes affected intrinsic motivation. Proximal outcomes were defined as the benefits that occur immediately during or within a few hours of a single exercise bout, whereas distal outcomes occur after days, months or years of consistent physical activity. This study demonstrated that the intrinsic motivation of subjects with lower levels of past physical activity significantly increased when they were exposed to proximal outcomes compared to distal.

As a coach and trainer, I’ve always understood the importance of motivating others (and myself) with the positive benefits of consistent exercise, but my temporal outcome differentiation was between short-term outcomes (in the next month or two) and long-term outcomes (in 6 months to a year). The idea of focusing on immediate outcomes from single workouts is fantastic. I may not be the greatest example because I generally enjoy exercise, but reading through the list of proximal positive outcomes from the study has really motivated me to workout tonight. I may even print it out and post it by my desk. I love the idea of encouraging clients to make lists of proximal positive outcomes or reference the one from this study, and I think it could go a long way in developing intrinsic motivation with exercise.

Previous studies have reported the effect motivational climate has on an athlete. The perception of a mastery motivational climate, emphasizing “learning, effort, improvement, and success determined by self-reference criteria,” has been demonstrated to increase intrinsic motivation (Brinkman-Majewski & Weiss, 2015). This is opposite of a performance motivational climate, where success is determined in competition to others, leading to increased anxiety and less satisfaction (Brinkman-Majewski & Weiss, 2015). Creating mastery motivational climates with fitness clients could be done as a coach by not comparing clients to each other and highlighting personal PRs and improvements. Especially when working with kids whose sense of self is in a more formative stage, emphasizing task-involved goal orientations could increase the perception of the motivational climate, thereby influencing intrinsic motivation.

Motor abilities influence an individual’s success in the performance of certain motor skills (Magill & Anderson, 2013). A motor ability of interest is dynamic balance, or the ability to maintain stability while one is in motion, as there is a strong correlation between poor balance and falls (although it is not the only factor), which are a large health concern among many populations (Ünlüsoy et. al 2011). I have had many clients with various conditions, including age, Parkinson’s disease, and osteoporosis, who were unsteady during locomotion due to poor dynamic balance.

All three of these conditions, age, Parkinson’s disease, and osteoporosis, have a negative influence on the dynamic balance category of motor abilities (Paolucci et. al 2014; Ünlüsoy et. al 2011). Age-dependent change in the musculoskeletal, sensory, and neural systems decrease balance ability in older adults (Maki & Mcllroy, 1996). Parkinson’s disease occurs in the brain’s basal ganglia when there is a lack of dopamine production in the substantia nigra, and it causes bradykinesia, akinesia, tremor, and muscular rigidity (Magill & Anderson, 2013). Paolucci et al. (2014) state that a “balance disorder is one of the most important impairments” in this population due to statistics showing substantially greater incidence of falls among those with PD (70% of individuals with PD fall once a year and 50% of them fall twice a year in comparison to only 30% of healthy adults over the age of 65 who fall once in a year). Osteoporosis is a bone disease where bones become increasingly fragile from microstructure impairments in the bone tissue and decreases in bone mass. Ünlüsoy et. al (2011) demonstrated that dynamic balance in osteoporotic women was significantly worse than in healthy individuals.

There are many factors influencing one’s ability for dynamic balance during locomotion including muscle strength, interpretation of vestibular and proprioceptive information, and visual feedback (Paolucci et. al 2014). In terms of defining dynamic balance or any type of balance as a motor ability, Magill and Anderson (2013) state balance is a “multidimensional ability that is specific to the task or skill in which balance is involved,” and the specificity of motor abilities hypothesis postulates that individual motor abilities are relatively independent of one another. Given these assumptions, it is challenging to articulate the specific balance ability or abilities influencing locomotion.

If a client or patient came to me requesting help with dynamic balance while walking, I would perform various tests to rule out (or in) factors that may contribute to difficulty walking. I would assess muscular strength and endurance, especially in the lower extremity, observe the patient’s normal walking gait for noticeable abnormalities, and inquire into the patient’s medical history to rule out diseases or conditions, including those previously discussed, that may impact dynamic balance. I would also question the patient about lifestyle factors (i.e., recent accident or trauma, change in medication, etc.) that may be contributing to the deficit. If the patient has good muscle strength in the lower extremity, adequate gait mechanics, and no red flags in his or her medical history, this would indicate a problem with the motor ability of dynamic balance.

Additional ideas of assessments for dynamic balance related to gait were reviewed in a study by Bloem et. al (2016). This study recommended clinical tests including the UPDRS-derived Postural Instability and Gait Difficulty score, Berg Balance Scale, Mini-BESTest, Dynamic Gait Index, Freezing of Gait Questionnaire, Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, Falls Efficacy Scale, Survey of Activities, Fear of Falling in the Elderly-Modified, 6-minute and 10-m walk tests, Timed Up-and-Go, and Functional Reach (Bloem et. al, 2016). Further research on my part is needed into these methods, but any would be reliable assessments of dynamic balance.

Motor abilities limit a person’s success in performing a motor skill. In the case discussed, dynamic balance is a motor ability that, if affected, can decrease one’s success at walking without falling. I believe it is important to note that while motor abilities may limit achievement in another skill, motor abilities themselves can be practiced, coached, and improved which would also benefit the motor skill performance. The most important part of treating a motor ability deficit is identifying and distinguishing it from other possible causes of poor motor skill performance.

Psychological deterrents to exercise and healthy eating adherence are of great interest to me. We’ve previously discussed that people who are more skillful may be more likely to be active, and self-efficacy research reveals that an individual’s belief in his or her ability to successfully do an activity is a large determinant of if he or she will actually do it (Clarke, 2015; Jongen et al., 2016). Other psychological factors contributing to adherence are support and willpower.

A meta-analysis by Burke, Carron, Eys, Ntoumanis, and Estabrooks (2006) demonstrated the value of contact and/or social support in exercise. The more contact and social support available, the greater the adherence was as well as the beneficial effects of the exercise (Burke et al., 2006). I believe this is the reason activities such as Crossfit and spin classes have such loyal patrons. The group or team dynamics increase members’ consistency and, therefore, their results.

Willpower, synonymous with the concepts of self-control and active volition, is another psychological component of diet and exercise adherence. The Fell article (2011) mentions that willpower is a limited resource that gets depleted throughout the day, therefore, the morning is the best time for one to make the decision to exercise. Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, and Tice (1998) further demonstrated that one’s willpower is limited and one’s willpower in a certain task (for example, exercise) can be depleted by unrelated acts (such as willpower at work) that share this common resource.

Willpower is important for anyone who is trying to change habits, especially those involving diet or exercise, to understand, as relying solely on will power may not be the most effective method. One of my favorite fitness bloggers, Sohee Lee, writes a lot about how willpower comes into play with diet goals. She discusses how restrained eating (when an individual must resist the urge to eat particular “forbidden” foods) draws more on one’s willpower reserves than unrestrained eating (no food is off-limits), and, often, counter-regulatory eating (overeating “forbidden” foods) results from a period of high restraint (Lee, 2016). Because of this, she recommends a no-food-off-limits approach to healthy eating, and that one should make small changes week by week toward healthier eating as opposed to drastic ones. The less willpower required the more likely the healthy habits will last.

I grew up to the sound of instructors reciting the mantra, “Practice makes perfect.” I was taught that all I had to do was practice hard and often, and one day, I’d be a master of whatever task I was working at. Unfortunately, research shows that the process isn’t that simple. One must deliberately practice his or her skill and have advantageous genetics, among other influences, in order to become an expert in a specific field.

Deliberate practice, or perfect practice, refers to the time one spends perfecting a skill using the most effective, appropriate training methods and feedback (Baker & Horton, 2004). It requires effort, focus, motivation, quality coaching, and drills that transfer well to performance. An athlete must be focused and intrinsically motivated to work hard through practice times under that guidance of knowledgeable coaches who maximize the efficiency of practice time and utilize effective feedback techniques to maximize the athlete’s development. Training exercises must be gauged to the athlete’s level and allow for correction and repetition. These drills must also transfer well to the performance of the defined task (Baker & Horton, 2004).

There are many flaws with the model of deliberate practice for expert performance which stipulates that approximately 10,000 hours of perfect practice over the course of 10 years is what is required for any individual to become an expert. Firstly, many of the studies cited for this model are retrospective studies, meaning the total hours of practice time were estimated retrospectively by participants, instead of being recorded or measured at the time of occurrence. The accuracy of these approximations is questionable. Secondly, what assurance is there of the quality of a given hour of practice? Is an hour of practice by one person in a study equivalent in quality to an hour of practice by another person in that same study? Furthermore, Tucker and Collins (2012) found that the number of deliberate practice hours only explains 28 to 34% of the individual variances in certain sports’ performance. While practice is an essential ingredient in the recipe for achieving sports expertise, it is not, by any means, the only important element.

Tucker and Collins (2012) state, that “training can be defined as the process by which genetic potential is realized,” demonstrating the intertwined relationship that deliberate practice and genetic factors play as one becomes an expert. Genetic factors that hold a large influence on sports performance expertise include gender, height, VO2 response to training (among other hereditary cardiorespiratory variables), and muscle mass and strength. Certain traits are more advantageous in some sports and less advantageous in others. For example, pertaining to the trait of height, tall individuals are preferred by some sports, while shorter individuals are favored by others (Tucker & Collins, 2012). Psychological traits including one’s ability to focus, rebound from mistakes, and manage anxiety in addition to one’s self-confidence and concentration are also influenced by genetic components and play an important role in setting up an athlete to achieve expertise in his or her sport (Baker & Horton, 2004).

Regardless of practice quality and genetic factors, there is also a limit to how much time one can practice in a given period without increasing the risk of injury from overuse and fatigue. Andrew Read (n. d.) tells a joke of an overzealous, novice athlete who asks his coach how long it’ll take before he’s a world class athlete. The coach tells him it will take 10 years. The athlete then asks the coach how long it would take to become a world class athlete if he works twice as hard and trains twice as long. The coach’s response is twenty years. Athletic development is limited by the amount of training one’s body can handle, and the occurrence of injuries delay the development process or prevent expert performance capability.

In my work with young athletes, I apply some of this information by teaching my students quality practice habits, such as concentration, focus, and intrinsic motivation. Although strong evidence exists about the influence of genetic factors on an individual’s performance potential, I refrain from teaching young athletes to attribute any of their success or lack of success to factors outside of their control as I believe this negatively affects their motivation. Further, I could do more in my coaching to promote positive recovery practices, such as quality sleep, soft tissue maintenance, and good nutrition, in the athletes I work with so they can maximize their ability to train and minimize injury risks.

When was the last time you crawled?

Go crawl right now. On your hands and toes, down and back in the nearest hallway. I DARE YOU!

I bet it’s harder than you thought it’d be!

Crawling is called a primitive movement (along with rolling, pushup, and quadruped). It’s a basic, yet critical, pattern we learn during our physical and neurological maturation as it develops the strength, coordination, and stability that translate into higher level activities such as running and climbing.

Crawling is similar to many things in life; if you don’t use, it you lose it! Your body forgets how to crawl, how to recruit muscles in those fundamental patterns, how to stabilize your body in dynamic positions, and how to coordinate arm and leg movements. Your ability to move (pain and injury free) deteriorates from there because the foundation is gone!

I’ll show you how to start rebuilding your foundation. The most fundamental of the many styles of crawling is the bear crawl (or table top crawl).

In this crawl, the opposite arm and leg move together. The left leg and right arm “step” forward, then the right leg and left arm “step” forward. The challenge is keeping your back straight and hips level through the movement. With clients, I’ll place a foam roller or light, plate-like object on their lower backs while they crawl, forcing them to stay level during movement to prevent the object from falling.

From Eric Cressey’s High Performance Handbook I learned a variation of this crawl where you inhale as you take each “step” then hold the position in place as you exhale,”crunching” your ribs down toward your pelvis.

Resistance can be added as a weight plate on top of your hips, resistance bands around your hips or shoulders, towing a kettle bell behind you, etc. Just don’t venture there until mastering the basic technique!

I like this video of some other crawling variations:

Here’s your challenge:

Add 3 sets of 20 steps of bear crawls into 2 of your workouts this week, in your warm up or as a superset to another exercise.

Activation Drills

The first challenge many face on the road to booty gains is muscle activation. A great percentage of our days are spent, not generating power through our bums but sitting on them! For many, getting those gluteus muscles firing properly takes some persistence with activation drills. Try one or all of these at the beginning of your workout:

Prone Scorpions (8 reps on each side)
Lie facedown with legs together and arms out to a “T.” Squeeze one glute to initiate the movement, then swing it over toward the opposite hand. Touch toes to the ground and return to the starting position. Focus on keeping the opposite shoulder and hip on the ground.

Birddog (6 reps on each side)
Start on all 4’s, keeping the core tight by drawing the belly button toward the spine. Extend opposite arm and leg while keeping torso still and straight. This exercise has a bonus of also being a great core activation drill!

Supine Bridge (10 reps)
Position feet slightly wider than hip-width, push through the heels, and raise hips up. Squeeze your booty at the top position and hold for a second or two. Then lower to just above the ground before repeating.

Bowler Squat (5 reps on each side)
Balance on one leg, keeping that knee soft (slightly bent, not locked out). Push your booty back and use the opposite leg for a counterbalance as you reach down and across the body with your opposite arm. Keep your back straight! This exercise has an added benefit of reinforcing proper hip-hinge technique.

Booty-Building Exercises

The next step is building strength and size in the glute muscles. Here are a few of my favorite exercises.

Barbell Hip Thrust (3 sets of 8 reps)
For everything you need to know about hip thrusts, Bret Contreras is your guy! Check out this article.
As a side note, this may not seem like the kind of movement you want to do in gym…in public, but trust me! The benefits far outweigh the potential awkwardness, and when in doubt, just avoid eye contact!

Banded Squats + Side Steps (2 sets of the following sequence)
Step 1: Place mini band above or below the knees (I prefer below)
Step 2: Take 10 steps sideways to your left, maintaining tension in the band at all times.
Step 3: With legs a little wider than hip-width, perform 10 squats.
Step 4: Take 10 steps sideways to your right, maintaining tension in the band at all times.
Step 4: With legs a little wider than hip-width, perform 10 squats.

Bulgarian Split Stance Squat (3 sets of 8 on each leg)
Start with this exercise unloaded- Good luck!